Two Women Found Guilty In 'Gifting Tables' Case

HARTFORD — — A federal jury Wednesday convicted two women of running a pyramid-style financial conspiracy in the form of a "gifting table" club.

Jill Platt, 65, and Donna Bello, 56, both of Guilford, were found guilty of wire fraud and filing false tax returns. The government said they failed to report profits from an illegal scheme in which members paid $5,000 to join with the chance to make $40,000 by recruiting new members.

The women's attorneys had argued that their clients consulted attorneys and accountants who advised them that the income was not taxable.

It took the jury about 90 minutes to reach a verdict. Platt and Bello will be sentenced on May 15. Each wire fraud charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years. A conviction on a charge of filing a false tax return is punishable by a maximum of three years.

The women were released after the verdict.

Platt said outside the courtroom that she had hoped the jurors would have deliberated longer, giving more time and attention to each individual charge. Platt was found guilty of seven charges, including conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, filing a false tax return, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and multiple counts of wire fraud.

"I think everything was decided before they went in [to deliberate]," she said of the jurors.

Platt said she felt that the jury didn't differentiate her involvement in the gifting tables from Bello's.

"My circumstances are different from Donna's," she said. "I came into this group several years after Donna. I'm just disappointed the jury didn't separate me from Donna."

Platt said a woman who had introduced her to the gifting tables assured her that it was a legal venture and that members of the group affirmed that during her participation.

"I had no reason to doubt they were good people," she said. "Instead of getting good advice, I'm here."

Her lawyer, Jonathan Einhorn, said he would file an appeal.

Bello's lawyer, Norman Pattis, said after the verdict: "We're obviously just extremely disappointed." Bello was found guilty of 15 charges, including conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and multiple counts of filing a false tax return and wire fraud.

Pattis said he would evaluate Bello's options regarding an appeal.

A third defendant, Bettejane Hopkins, 67, of Essex, had pleaded guilty.

The case featured a stream of witnesses who were members of the club. It also revealed that a lawyer nominated to become a Superior Court judge provided advice to the defendants.

Shelley Marcus testified that she never advised the defendants to stop their participation, nor did she edit the gifting-tables guidelines as other witnesses had suggested.

Marcus is one of 15 lawyers nominated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for state judgeships. The law firm owned by Marcus' father, former state Democratic Party Chairman Edward Marcus, was retained by Platt and Bello, who waived attorney-client privilege to enable Shelley and Edward Marcus to testify.

The government alleged that the defendants tried to use the pretext of gifting tables as a way to avoid paying taxes on their proceeds.

According to a grand jury indictment, more than 70 women made it to the top levels of the club, most of them more than once, and more than 20 of them six times or more. More than $5 million changed hands.

Court records said that each of the gifting tables had a four-level pyramid, with eight participants at the bottom, four assigned to the third row, two participants in the second row and one member on top. New members paid $5,000 in cash to the person at the top. That payment, "which is characterized as a gift," according to the indictment, gave the new person a spot on the bottom row.

To move higher up the pyramid, participants recruited additional women. When eight new women joined, the woman at the top left the gifting table and kept the $40,000 paid by the newest members. All levels moved up the pyramid, including one person to the top spot of a second gifting table that was formed, and the search would begin for new recruits, according to the indictment.

A 34-page handbook of club guidelines obtained earlier this year by The Courant gives a glimpse into how the club operated and shows how far organizers went to convince prospective participants that joining the club and "partaking in an incredible life journey" was legal, and a way to help themselves and others.

In the guide, participants are encouraged to ask family members for money, use their credit cards for cash advances and sell their cars and other valuables to get into the club.

In October, Attorney General George Jepsen disclosed that five former participants in the gifting scheme — which he characterized as an illegal pyramid scheme — agreed to forfeit $202,500 to the state.